Dressler



March 24, 1964 ss 3,125,815

FABRIC DISPLAY Filed Dec. 21, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet, 1

, l W INVENTOR. Henry Brawler- March'24, 1964 H. DRESSLER 3,125,815

FABRIC DISPLAY Filed Dec. 21, 1961 i 2 Sheets$heet 2 IN VEN TOR.

Henry Dreasler 6% BY amwalbgw United States Patent 3,125,815 FABRICDISPLAY Henry Dressler, Hialeah, Fla. J. Jerome Olitt, 32 Broadway, NewYork, N.Y.) Filed Dec. 21, 1961, Ser. No. 160,993 Claims. (Cl. 3556) Thepresent invention relates to displaying fabrics for making garments, andmore particularly to a fabric display made from a length of fabricfolded to simulate the garment to be made therefrom.

A large volume of fabric is sold today to persons desiring to make theirown garments, such as dresses, for example. Despite the increasingvolume of this business, there has been, prior to the present invention,no improvement in the display of these fabrics for merchandisingpurposes. The purchaser must view the fabric itself, usually in boltform, and visualize what the finished garment to be made from thisfabric will look like. Once the purchaser has decided on a certainfabric for making a dress, for example, and determined how much materialis needed for that particular dress, the seller must then measure andcut off this amount of material from a bolt of the fabric. Consequently,under this merchandising system, the seller must devote considerabletime and attention to each sale and is confronted with the inventoryproblem presented by having to stock each type of fabric in completebolts, even though a bolt is often more material than need be stockedfor that particular fabric. In addition, there is the Waste problempresented by the leftover fabric on the end of the bolt which isinsuflicient to make a complete dress.

The present invention overcomes these disadvantages, and moreimportantly, overcomes the disadvantage inherent in the purchasersinability to visualize the garment to be made from the fabric, byproviding a fabric of sufficient length to make a particular garment,for example the dress mentioned above, which is folded to simulate thedress. A hanger is attached to the folded fabric to retain it in theshape of the garment and hang it for display purposes. With thisdisplay, the purchaser sees the fabric in the form of the particulargarment to be made from the fabric, and when a sale is made the sellerneed only package the folded fabric since it-already has the requiredlength to make the garment it has been folded to simulate. Thus, ineffect, the seller need only stock simulated dresses. The measuring andcutting problems involved in each sale under the previous system arealso eliminated, as is the problem of leftover material on each bolt offabric.

Accordingly, it is one object of the invention to improve the display offabrics for making garments.

It is another object of the invention to provide a length of fabricfolded to simulate a garment for display purposes to enable thepurchaser to visualize the appearance of the garment to be made from thefabric.

It is a further object of the invention to display fabrics as simulatedgarments having sufficient material to make the simulated garment toeliminate the need for stocking the fabrics in bolts from which thefabric has to be measured and cut to length.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide a fasteningelement and hanger which can be secured to fabrics folded to simulategarments as described above to retain the fabric in folded relation andto hang the folded fabric for display purposes.

Other objects and features of novelty of the present invention will bespecifically pointed out or will otherwise become apparent whenreferring, for a better understanding of the invention, to the followingdescription taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings,wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the front of a simulated dress foldedfrom a single length of fabric in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the back of the simulated dressillustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the fabric and other components of theinvention prior to the folding of the fabric to simulate a dress;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken on the line 55 of FIG. 1 with theformed sheet-like element for lending shape to the dress shown inelevation, the front and back of the dress being spaced further apartthan normal for the sake of clarity;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view similar to that of FIG. 5 with the formedsheet-like element shown in section;

FIG. 7 is a view of the back of the formed sheet-like element;

FIG. 8 is a view of the front of the formed sheet-like element;

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary perspective View of the left shoulder of thesimulated dress before the corner of the fabric has been tucked in toform the shoulder. 1 Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a simulated dress 30 isillustrated which embodies features of the present invention. The dressis folded from a single length of fabric having sufficient material toenable a dressmaker to cut up the fabric and make the dress as simulatedin FIGS. 1 and 2. The single length of fabric is folded in half to forma halflength fabric 34 with the cut ends 31 and 33 of the single lengthof fabric aligned at the upper end thereof, as illustrated in FIG. 3. Asheet-like element 32 preferably made of a stiff sheet of cardboardformed to simulate the upper portion of a womans figure, as will bedescribed, is positioned on the upper portion of the half-length fabric34, and the longitudinal side edges 36 and 38 of the halflength fabricare folded inwardly over the sheet-like element 32 to bring the edges 36and 38 together as illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 4, the initial folding ofthe side edge 36 being illustrated in phantom in FIG. 3. A belt 40 ispositioned about the waist 42 of the sheet-like element and tightened togather the fabric in about the waist as most clearly illustrated inFIGS. 1 and 2. It will be observed that the sheet-like element 32 alsohas a depending skirt portion 44 and upper portion 46 formed to simulatea womans bust, both of which lend further shape to the simulated dress30 as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2.

After the side edges 36 and 38 have been folded inwardly as described, afastening element 48, preferably a heavy-weight sheet of paper, isfolded over the upper end of the further folded half-length fabric andthe sheet-like element 32, and the folded halves thereof are stapledtogether by staples 50 to prevent the fabric from unfolding and toretain the sheet-like element 32 in position. A hook 54 connected to across rod 56 is secured in position by the fastening element 48 with thecross rod 56 positioned in the crease thereof and the hook 54 projectingthrough an aperture 52 in the fastening element to enable the dress tobe hung for display purposes, as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2.

Referring specifically to FIGS. 3 and 5-8, the sheetlike element 32 ismade from a flat sheet 58 (preferably cardboard, as mentioned above)which is indented at the sides thereof to form the waist 42 and thedepending skirt portion 44 previously mentioned. In FIG. 7 the fiatsheet 58 is illustrated before it is formed to simulate a womans bustwith the exception of the upper right corner of the sheet, which isillustrated as it appears after it has been formed. To form the bust,the upper portion 46 of the flat sheet 58 is cut inwardly at the sidesthereof to separate the sheet along edges 60 and 62. The portions of thesheet adjacent the out are then overlapped as illustrated and stapled bystaples 64 to retain the edge 62 below the edge 60 as illustrated ineach of the FIGS. 3 and 8 to form the bust. The projecting corners 66and 68 may then be folded forwardly along the fold lines 70 and 72,respectively, to give a little more shape to the shoulders of the dress30.

When the fastening element 48 is stapled over the central portion of theupper end of the half-length fabric 34 and the upper end of thesheet-like element 32, as previously described, the cut ends 31 and 33of the full-length fabric 32 are exposed at the corners of the simulateddress projecting beyond the fastening element 48. These exposed ends areconcealed and the simulated dress given a more finished appearance bytucking in the corners of the dress as at 84 and 86, as illustrated inFIGS. 1 and 2. If desired, long folds 87 and 88 may be formed on thefront of the dress 30 and held in position by the fastening element 48and the belt 40 to add interest to the front of the dress.

While it will be apparent that the embodiments of the invention hereindisclosed are well calculated to fulfill the objects of the invention,it will be appreciated that the invention is susceptible tomodification, variation and change Without departing from the properscope or fair meaning of the subjoined claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A fabric display comprising a length of fabric sufficient to make adress, said fabric being folded to bring the ends thereof together toform a half-length fabric, the longitudinal side edges of saidhalf-length fabric being further folded inwardly toward one another,means for gathering in the midsection of said further folded halflengthfabric to simulate a waist for said dress, a formed sheet-like elementpositioned within the folds of said further folded half-length fabricabove said waist to shape the front of said dress to simulate a womansbust, and means extending over the uper end of said further foldedhalf-length fabric to secure said sheet-like element in position and toretain the fabric in the shape of said dress.

2. The invention as defined in claim 1 wherein the original ends of saidlength of fabric are exposed at the upper end of said dress, and saidlast mentioned means comprises a sheet of material folded over saidupper end and overlapping the upper portion of said formed sheet-likeelement, means for retaining the folded halves of said sheet of materialtogether to retain the upper portion of the sheet-like element inposition and to retain the folds of said further folded half-lengthfabric against unfolding, and hanger means secured to and extendingupwardly from said sheet of material for hanging said dress for displaypurposes.

3. A fabric display package, comprising a contoured sheet having aperipheral edge shaped to simulate the outline of a human torso, anuncut and unsewn length of fabric draped around said sheet in simulationof a garment, a belt-like member extending around the draped fabric, anarrow sheet material strip folded over a neck end of the fabric, ahanger having a hooked end, a crossbar and a shank connecting the hookedend and crossbar, said strip having a hole receiving said shank so thatthe crossbar is enclosed in the strip, and staples securing the stripand neck end of the fabric to the sheet.

4. A fabric display comprising a length of fabric sufficient to make adress, said fabric being folded substantially in half to reduce thelength thereof, the longitudinal side edges of said folded fabric beingfurther folded inwardly toward one another, fastening means extendingover and fastened to one end of said further folded fabric to retain thefabric against unfolding, means gathering in a midsection of saidfurther folded fabric to simulate a waist for said dress, and contouredmeans positioned within the folds of said further folded fabric abovesaid waist to shape the front of said dress to simulate a womans bust.

5. The invention as defined in claim 4, wherein said contoured meanscomprises a formed sheet-like member secured in position by saidfastening means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,504,502 Powell Aug. 12, 1924 1,678,756 Zimmerman July 31, 19281,824,538 Fitzpatrick Sept. 22, 1931 2,762,503 Steinthal Sept. 11, 19562,788,121 Ayres Apr. 9, 1957 3,037,621 Jackman June 5, 1962

1. A FABRIC DISPLAY COMPRISING A LENGTH OF FABRIC SUFFICIENT TO MAKE ADRESS, SAID FABRIC BEING FOLDED TO BRING THE ENDS THEREOF TOGETHER TOFORM A HALF-LENGTH FABRIC, THE LONGITUDINAL SIDE EDGES OF SAIDHALF-LENGTH FABRIC BEING FURTHER FOLDED INWARDLY TOWARD ONE ANOTHER,MEANS FOR GATHERING IN THE MID-SECTION OF SAID FURTHER FOLDED HALFLENGTHFABRIC TO SIMULATE A WAIST FOR SAID DRESS, A FORMED SHEET-LIKE ELEMENTPOSITIONED WITHIN THE FOLDS OF SAID FURTHER FOLDED HALF-LENGTH FABRICABOVE SAID WAIST TO SHAPE THE FRONT OF SAID DRESS TO SIMULATE A WOMAN''SBUST, AND MEANS EXTENDING OVER THE UPPER END OF SAID FURTHER FOLDEDHALF-LENGTH FABRIC TO SECURE SAID SHEET-LIKE ELEMENT IN POSITION AND TORETAIN THE FABRIC IN THE SHAPE OF SAID DRESS.